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Remarks by the Right Honourable Brian Dickson

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Remarks by the Right Honourable Brian Dickson REMARKS BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE BRIAN DICKSON AT THE CENTENNIAL DINNER OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY Montreal, Quebec. May 31, 1987 Dr. Rasminsky, Mr. Goldstein, Mr. German Rabbi, Mr. Stern, Mr. Vineberg, Dr. Lamm, Chief Justice Gold, distinguished head table guests, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to begin by thanking my friend, Phillip Vineberg, for his generous and gracious introduction. We have been friends for decades and I am pleased indeed that he would say such kind words about me. I also want to record publicly the very great honour I feel at receiving an Honourary Degree this afternoon from Yeshiva University. Yeshiva has a proud record of accomplishment and an international reputation of the first order it is with pride that I become part of the Yeshiva community. I have been asked this evening to speak for a few minutes about some of my memories of one of the most remarkable and faithful Yeshiva Degree holders - my predecessor as Chief Justice of Canada, Bora Laskin. I am pleased to be able to do this, although the man was so talented that it is difficult to know both where to start in my remarks and how to keep them within the short compass that is appropriate for this occasion. I understand that ancient rabbinic tradition teaches that "three principles preserve the world: law, service, and loving-kindness". I have no doubt that Bora Laskin's life was a mirror image of these three principles. Put simply, Bora Laskin loved and respected the law. His entire life, first as an academic and labour arbitrator, later as - 3 - a judge, was devoted to understanding Canadian law and making the Canadian legal system just and humane. Before becoming a judge, he was Canada's pre-eminent constitutional and labour lawyer. As a judge, his productivity, his intelligence, his powerful writing and his wonderful humanity all combined to make him perhaps the most memorable and talented judge in Canadian history. Bora's spread into many lands. He is remembered and admired far beyond the boundaries of our country. The many invitations he received from outside Canada to deliver distinguished lectures - for example the Hamlyn Lectures in England, and the Lionel Cohen Lectures in Israel - reflect recognition of his rich background of culture and learning and deep perceptive insights into the larger function of the law. I recall one evening in England, when, as President of the Bentham Society, Bora Laskin delivered the annual lecture at the University of London. Barbara and I were present. It was a memorable occasion. Present in the great hall were the Lord Chancellor of England, judges of the House of Lords, the Lord Chief Justice of England and the Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning. These distinguished personages joined in the warm and enthusiastic reception for our Chief Justice's brilliant address. On the legal front, Chief Justice Laskin made a lasting impression on the jurisprudence of our country and a major contribution to Canadian social thought and action. His - 4 - disciplined, highly cultivated mind, passionately devoted to the rule of law, harmonized with a compassionate nature, ever sensitive to injustice, and ready at all times to reject the notion that whatever is, is right. He had a moral grandeur without the slightest taint of self-righteousness, a moral distinction which could literally be felt. Je crois sincèrement que les qualités du juge en chef Laskin à cet égard proviennent en grande part de son attachement profond aux universités canadiennes et de sa longue expérience de celles-ci. C'était un universitaire au plein sens du mot. Il était très réfléchi et profondément cultivé. Il aimait aussi à converser et à débattre, tant de façon formelle qu'informelle, et il en tirait profit. Et c'était un grand démocrate qui, tout en tenant fermement à ses propres opinions, avait un respect profond du point de vue des autres. Ses longues années d'enseignement universitaire ont, j'en suis sûr, influencé toutes ces qualités. I have spoken at some length about the first of the three great rabbinic principles - the law - because Chief Justice Laskin dedicated his entire professional life to that principle. But I do not want to ignore the other two principles - service and loving-kindness. Bora Laskin served his family, the Canadian and international university community, many charitable organizations and, ultimately, his country with rare fidelity and dedication. He - 5 - was a genuinely humble and unselfish man who put the needs and aspirations of others before his own comfort. Finally, the word "loving-kindness" strikes me as a particularly apt word to describe the very human and humane Bora Laskin I knew so well. Bora was a man with a towering intellect, a man of reason. He loved the law and ideas. Additionally, however, he had a love for people and a deep understanding of the human condition. He was a mentor and a friend to many law students, young law professors and someone very special to his colleagues, like me, on the Supreme Court of Canada. His generosity and kindness to so many people over so many years made him a truly remarkable person. Let me conclude by saying again how privileged I feel to be in your company today, first as a recipient of an Honourary Degree, then to bring you a few memories about one of your greatest members, Bora Laskin. Please permit me to say also - and this I say for the first time - how honoured I am to receive my Honourary Degree on the same stage as Chief Justice Alan Gold, a colleague whose wise counsel I highly value and a man whose career exemplifies many of the virtues I have described in my remarks about Bora Laskin. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen..
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